How to feed the animals? Eeekkk

[Deleted User]

Ok, so I have two dogs, one very large and one medium sized.

The large dog eats a lot of course and the medium dog can only eat cheap food, he had problems and was put on Chappy, well I have moved him to WAGG now and he's fine.

Anyway the big dog, she is a Lab X and has developed really bad skin/coat. So she needs something different I guess, maybe JamesWellbeloved.

Anyway it's really expensive, does anybody know what to do. I'd like to improve on wag, at leats go to the next best thing, but I'm on a mega tight budget.

Can anyone help me please. :cool:

Laconic

Ah bad skin: the plague of labs. We've spent much time and money on it!

Serious secret: dog food is much of a muchness. [1] So long as you're feeding a brand that's made by a company that hasn't jumped up yesterday and does its own sourcing and testing (the cruel thing is that most of the new, fancy companies don't even make their own food, have never tested it on dogs and have no real idea what's actually in it, despite their label claims), it should be fine.

Food is not often the problem with skin. Much more likely culprits are fleas (we had a dog who'd break out in horrendous hotspots from *one* bite) and dirt -- most dogs really, really benefit from being washed weekly in mild shampoo (don't waste money on the dog stuff, any mild shampoo does unless there's a specific condition you're treating), and brush every last day! You should see it stop getting worse but it may be several weeks before it improves. Be diligent about looking for fleas: you may never see any on a dog, but if you see black granules on the dog or where it sleeps, try dripping a little water on them: if they dissolve into a red liquid, that's dried blood excreted by fleas. If you have fleas or ticks, pyrethin-based shampoos are cheap, very effective, natural (pyrethin is made from Chrysanthemum flowers) and some of the safest insecticides you can buy. Don't neglect household hygiene and washing their bedding regularly.

The next thing to investigate are mites and skin infections. Actually, if the dog really reeks, start there: a skin scrape to confirm or exclude these problems can really help.

If it's worse at certain times of the year, then it may be inhaled allergens and with the vet's consultation you can get allergy tablets cheap to give. Just get the prescription, look up the active ingredients and dose and get the human one for a small fraction of the veterinary mark up.

If you go down the food allergy route, please have exhausted parasites, coat hygiene and inhalational allergies as causes. Exclusion diets are not quick, are not easy -- you must give absolutely no other food -- and not cheap.

And for big dogs, restricting their food and keeping them thin is the single BEST thing you can do [2]. Feeding 1/3rd less than the manufacturer recommends -- adds 2 years to a dog's life and results in drastic reductions in joint problems. [3] Money-saving and life saving in one fell swoop!

In order then, systematically try the following:

1. Improve coat hygiene and keep surroundings clean. Always worth doing anyway!
2. Investigate ecto-parasites such as fleas, ticks and mites (again, attending to No. 1 will help with this).
3. Investigate inhalational allergies -- that includes dust mites (again, see No. 1).
4. Then and only then, investigate food. Keep in mind that the No. 1 culprit for dogs with food problems is BEEF, not wheat or corn.

Hope that helps! Any questions, ask again.

[1]http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/q-a-vets-weigh-in-on-fido-s-food/index.htm
[2] How to check whether your dog is at a good weight: http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/knuckles-as-weight-gauge.html
[3] The accessible summary: http://www.carolbeuchat.com/2012/07/locating-the-genes-for-hip-dysplasia-in-dogs-psssst-look-in-the-kibble-bag/
The actual study is here: http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.229.5.690?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dpubmed

zenshi

I have to disagree, many coat problems are caused by food.

Has lab had skin issues before? What were you feeding? What's his weight? And what's your budget?

I work within rescue and have been dog grooming for many years and seen many a dogs skin improve with diet change, my own included

Ladylulu

Hi!

I have 2 dogs ( and a cat who also eats the dog food :eek: ) one of which (Lulu )has the problem skin. I bought Jameswellbel*ved from Am*zon on the subscribe and save. I bought a couple of the smaller bags in different flavours first to make sure they would eat it, then ordered 2 of the 15kg bags. It was a big outlay to begin with, but is proving to be economical in the long run as I estimate it will last about 10-11 months.
I also make my own wet (wheat/dairy free)dog food from a packet of mince from Ald! bulked out with rice and bit of left over veggies to give them a bit of variety from the dry food, I make that stretch out over a week.
Hope this is of some help

Shepherd1

You could try skinners they are cheaper than james wellbeloved.

i1189

I wouldn't necessarily equate price with goodness. My dog did very poorly on James Wellbeloved and is now on Wagg and looks great.

I've also found CSJ a good and cheaper alternative - there aren't may stockists but you can get it easily by mail order.

[Deleted User]

Hi All

Thanks for the advice.

She has been on Wag since ever (well since we got her from the rescue home)

She has always been a bit scratchy, however just recently she made two parts of her fur bleed, I was going to take her to the vet but it healed quickly and it's now very dry.

She has a lot of white skin coming from this area, however is this normal healing? There is no longer any open cut or anything like that.

Her coat is always dry or oily and never looks clean.

The cut was either her scratching or my other dog putting his claws into her back! He is a dog and she is a !!!!!.

I have used flea treatment yesterday and have brushed her well. I have also used Piriton as advised by the vet.

Budget wise we currently spend about £15 per month on food. So I don't know, I'd probably absorb any cost just to make sure she improves, but yet again no idea what is value for money and what is the same in rip of packaging :-)

Upsidedown_Bear

Might be worth asking on the pet forum as well

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=143

[Deleted User]

Didn't know there was one. Thans very much!

iolanthe07

don't waste money on the dog stuff, any mild shampoo does

I think you're wrong there. The Ph value of a shampoo for humans is not suitable for dogs. The wrong shampoo is very likely to cause skin problems.

heatherks

it could be the dog food my collie can't take ..bakers, pedigree, hill's science plan ceasar etc to name a few as she come out in a rash, hair falling out

she is on Iams and it has cleared up

teh man that owns our local petshop says it more likely diet when it come to skin conditions ..but try a shampoo and see if it makes a difference